A boot made for driving

Fri, 2012-04-20 08:50

If you haven’t seen or heard about it before, let me introduce you to the 13-foot high, 20-foot long vehicle known as the Bootmobile – a truck crafted to celebrate the 100thanniversary of outdoor outfitter L. L. Bean.

Obviously, the Bootmobile is a big rolling marketing tool, fulfilling a role much like the famous “Weinermobile” does for Oscar Meyer. Yet it also results from an extensive design, engineering, and production effort in its own right, which you can watch below:

Yet L. L. Bean is also lending the Bootmobile to the ongoing efforts of the National Park Foundationthis week, the official charity of America's 397 national parks, to help raise $1 million or more to help with the upkeep of some of our nation’s greatest outdoor treasures.

[You can find out more concerning National Park Week celebrations, volunteer opportunities and special deals happening nationwide at www.nationalparkweek.org.]

L. L. Bean is also using the Bootmobile as part of its very own Million Moment Missioncampaign to raise awareness about the benefits of being outdoors (something, of course, that serves its own profitable ends as it’s an outdoor gear provider.)

In fact, a telephone survey conducted by KRC Research on behalf of L.L. Bean and the National Park Foundation of some 1,006 U.S. adults, age 18 and older, found that those who were parents said their children spend, on average, less than an hour a day outdoors – not a recipe for fitness and long-term physical health by any means.

“Our company founder, Leon Leonwood Bean, was the quintessential outdoorsman [and] believed that spending time outdoors could add years to your life,” noted Greg Dorman, L. L. Bean’s Outdoor Discovery School guide. “Learning the basics of outdoor recreation at a young age is key to developing healthy habits that will last a lifetime.”

That’s why – if you’re lucky – you catch a glimpse of the Bootmobile as it travels the nations the is spring and summer on a tour designed to raise awareness about the outdoors and raise funds for our national parks.